Ability to store Name/Email in a session - ruby-on-rails-3

Question

I have a form that I want a user to put in their name and email, which get stored in a session. They can then post text in a chat box.
In my view, to create the initial session:
<%= simple_form_for(#comments, :url => guest_login_order_path(#order)) do |f| %>
<input name="comment[new_user_comment_name]" />
<input name="comment[new_user_comment_email]" />
<%= f.button :submit, :value => 'Guest Signin', :class => '' %>
<% end %>
This goes to my controller:
def guest_login
#order = Order.where(:public_hash => params[:public_hash]).first
session[:new_user_account] = params[:new_user]
respond_to do |format|
if session[:new_user_account]
format.html { redirect_to #order, notice: 'Your account has been created.' }
format.json { render json: #order, status: :created, location: #order }
else
format.html { render action: "invoice" }
format.json { render json: #order.errors, status: :unprocessable_entity }
end
end
end
The params get passed correctly but I'm not quite sure if the cookie is being created. Is there way to specify a name so I can see if it was created? Also in the view, would I have a conditional then to see if there is a session present?

Answer 1

Rails creates a session for you so you don't need to check if it's present. If you'd like to easily retrieve the user from the session you can create a helper method in your application controller:
class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
def current_user
#current_user ||= session[:new_user_account]
end
helper_method :current_user
end
This method will be available to other controllers and views in your app.